Jarome Iginla exits Calgary in style

Jarome Iginla addresses the media in Calgary on the day of his trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

By:Donna SpencerThe Canadian Press, Published on Thu Mar 28 2013

CALGARY—Jarome Iginla bid farewell to Calgary and the Flames not with tears, but with his trademark forehead-creasing grin and best wishes for the future of the franchise.

The former Flames captain spoke to the Calgary media on Thursday about his trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins, completed late Wednesday. A Flame for all 16 seasons of his NHL career and team captain since 2003, Iginla is a beloved player whose departure is sad for Flames fans, but they’re also happy that he’ll get a chance to win that elusive Stanley Cup.

“I don’t know if you prepare a speech for this. I’m not retiring,” Iginla told a packed media room at Scotiabank Saddledome. “I never would have dreamed I would have got to play here so long. It’s a great, great hockey city . . . I wish we had more success and I really honestly thought we were going to have more success over the past few years, but I’m happy that we tried.”

The 35-year-old was dealt to the Penguins for a first-round draft pick and two college forwards. Iginla is Calgary’s all-time leading scorer with 575 goals and 570 assists in 1,219 games. He has nine goals and 13 assists in 31 games this lockout-shortened season.

He was named Calgary’s captain prior to the 2003-04 season when the Flames reached the Stanley Cup final and lost in seven games to Tampa Bay. That was the longest post-season Iginla experienced in Calgary. The Flames lost in the first round five times during his career.

The Flames, 14th in the West, have not made the playoffs since the 2008-09 season and will have a difficult time ending that drought without the face of their franchise.

When general manager Jay Feaster approached Iginla about a month ago about a possible trade, the Edmonton native obliged by waiving his no-trade clause and provided the GM with a select list of destinations. Iginla had more time than most traded players get to contemplate his departure.

There were three offers under consideration — Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli, who also offered two prospects and a first-rounder, was irate Thursday, contending Feaster told him Boston had “won the Jarome Iginla sweepstakes.”

In the end, Iginla and Feaster chose Pittsburgh, a star-studded team featuring superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Iginla assisted on Crosby’s overtime winner that gave Canada Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

“I talked to Jay and wanted it to be a mutual thing that they were happy with the deal they got,” Iginla said. “If I was going to leave here, I wanted the best opportunity to try to win.

“I guess I had some choice in Pittsburgh. Getting the opportunity as a player to go and play on a team with the two best players in the world and team on the roll that they’re on and the success they’ve had, as a player I wanted that opportunity.

“I do really want to win a Stanley Cup. I would have obviously loved it to be in Calgary.”

Said Crosby after the deal: “We’re always in the conversation as far as favourites.”

After trading for another member of the 2010 Canadian Olympic team, Brenden Morrow, plus defenceman Doug Murray, Penguins GM Ray Shero said the club’s attention returned to Iginla.

“Talking to our coaching staff, as a group, we said if there’s a chance to get Jarome Iginla . . . we want to try and get Jarome Iginla,” Shero said. “There was no doubt if we could try and add this guy, we were going to try and add him.”

Iginla is in the final year of a five-year, $35-million contract extension he signed in 2007. He’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on his 36th birthday July 1.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted his best wishes to Iginla.

“Jarome Iginla is a class act, a proud Canadian, and an all-time Flames great. Thanks for everything, Jarome,” he posted on his @pmharper account.

Wayne Gretzky, the centrepiece of the NHL’s most famous trade from Edmonton to Los Angeles in 1988, was at the Saddledome in Calgary Wednesday night, for a game in which Iginla was a healthy scratch in anticipation of a deal. Gretzky said he could understand Iginla’s situation.

“It’s a little bit of a culture shock for him. That’s a hard thing Calgary had to do,” Gretzky told a Red Deer, Alta., radio station. “It was probably hard for Jarome to say ‘I’m moving on.’ I’m sure people are happy for Jarome. He’s got an opportunity to play with Crosby and has an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup.”

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